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[0:00] And that's Jeremiah 4 and Hosea 10. Jeremiah 4 and then find Hosea chapter 10.

[0:17] And we've been spending time with the prophets these last couple weeks or months even and pulling out some one-liners, some popular phrases. And I've got another one I want to bring out and preach on this morning.

[0:32] Last week it was on probably the most famous phrase from the book of Daniel, that Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's meat. And I had some comments about what that is, a purposing in your hearts.

[0:46] Today I want to take a look at a completely different line. And it's my prayer that the Lord is able to make application in your individual life if necessary.

[1:04] So Jeremiah 4 and let's read verse number 3. The Bible says, Have you not heard that word, that phrase, break up your fallow ground?

[1:27] Break up your fallow ground. It's a somewhat familiar line. It's been put to song, whether you're familiar with that or not. It's kind of a catchy one-liner. It's got some imagery to it, some symbolism.

[1:41] And it's talking about fallow ground. Now we know that in verse 4 that Jeremiah is not talking, the Lord's not talking at all about the ground or the dirt. He's talking about their hearts.

[1:52] In verse 4 he says, Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my fury come forth like fire. And burn that none can quench it because of the evil of your doings.

[2:05] He's worried about their heart. He's talking about their heart. When he teaches them and demands they break up their fallow ground. Now fallow ground is land, typically speaking, it's land that was previously farmed, broken up, disks or whatever the case would be, and land that was used.

[2:26] It was fertile land. It was even harvested. But it's been turned over after a harvest and cleaned off and just left to sit for a time period and making it fallow.

[2:38] It's sometimes, in these days especially, it would sit for several seasons. Today some modern techniques have maybe even some, with additions of certain chemicals or nutrients, they're able to turn land over and just use it and kind of figure some things out a little bit.

[2:56] But leaving land sit fallow or sit idle was quite a common practice. It was beneficial to the land. And it would allow the soil to recover. And it would keep the farmer from completely depleting and draining that soil from the nutrients needed for a healthy crop.

[3:13] And so allowing the land to lie fallow was a beneficial thing. It was a practice of farmers. Now, as mentioned, Jeremiah's not speaking about dirt at all.

[3:25] He's speaking about the heart of the people. Now come to Hosea. And this phrase shows up in Hosea. Actually, before we get to chapter 10, look back at chapter 9.

[3:38] And verse number 10. Hosea 9, verse 10. He says, Now God likens this nation to a fruit-bearing vine or fig tree.

[4:06] And while he found them that way, and he shows in Isaiah that he had, in one illustration, he had planted them and he had done everything that he could by making Israel a vineyard capable of bringing forth fruit.

[4:22] And when they were finished, they brought forth wild grapes. And God says, Wherefore? Like, why? Why did you bring forth wild grapes? And so he decides that I'm going to tear them down.

[4:35] Isaiah chapter 5, he says, It shall lie waste. It shall not be pruned nor digged because it brought forth wild grapes unto him. In chapter 10, verse 1, he says, Israel is an empty vine.

[4:47] And so God likens them to a field or to a vineyard that's bearing fruit or ought to be bearing fruit. He's looking for fruit. In Luke chapter 13, it's a parable about Israel, the fig tree, that he comes, the man comes looking for fruit and doesn't see any and he comes year by year looking for fruit.

[5:08] And so this is an analogy, a picture of Israel. And in their case, as we read in chapter 9, verse 10, they went after Baal Peor instead. They separated themselves into that shame. They rejected God and ceased to worship and ceased to serve the true God, their God, that carried them forth out of Egypt, that did all these miracles and blessings.

[5:27] And gave his holy law and testament to them. And the result is there's no fruit. And look at chapter 10, verse 12. Hosea 10, verse 12.

[5:41] Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity, ye have eaten the fruit of your lies.

[5:57] Because thou didst trust in thy way, and the multitude of thy mighty men, and so forth. In Israel's case, rather than reaping the fruit of righteousness and of mercy from God, they're bringing forth wild fruits of wickedness, of iniquity, and of lies.

[6:14] And God's not going to allow it. He can't. Now, Jeremiah preached this same message of break up your fallow ground about 120 to 150 years after Hosea preached it.

[6:28] Hosea's message was to Israel, to the northern ten tribes. They rejected, and so God took them away to captivity. Jeremiah, years later, to a completely different crowd, and a different generation, preaches to these Judah, to Judah and Jerusalem, to break up their fallow ground.

[6:48] It's the same message, it's the same problem, that exists and persists in a different generation. If you read through Jeremiah, perhaps in your Bible reading, you'll even read through Ezekiel, and you'll see how these, both these prophets are just rebuking and attacking Judah and Jerusalem, the kingdom of Judah, for following the footsteps of the kingdom of Israel, who were ahead of their time and their wickedness, and God came and took them out.

[7:13] And the preachers came to Judah and preached and preached and preached, and said, God's going to deal with you the way he dealt with them if you don't turn from their ways. And they rejected those prophets and got rid of them, and so off they went to captivity as well.

[7:26] And so it's the same story happening over again. Hosea preached it years later, Jeremiah preached it, and that's the condition that we're reading about Israel in this time.

[7:37] Instead of being upright and being holy, and a kingdom of priests to God, they're just generating an abundance of sin, an abundance of wickedness, a shame, as he calls it, abominations, as he calls it, in chapter 9, verse 10.

[7:55] God's hand is not on them, and it's not his intention to leave them that way. He says in chapter 10, verse 12, it is time to seek the Lord. And so what God wants to see them is break up the fallow ground of their heart, and he wants to see them sow righteousness, and he's telling them that, letting them know that you'll be able to reap a harvest of mercy.

[8:14] It's still available to you if you'll do it now. It's not too late. Let's look today at this fallow ground and see why God instructs them to break it up, and let's study and consider the terms that he uses, the picture he uses here, and how God may be able to apply this to us today.

[8:33] Before we do, let's bow together and seek the Lord. God, as we come to this time where we've opened and read the scriptures, this line of breaking up fallow ground, Lord, we understand it's a reference to the heart, and so God, I pray that you'd reveal to us in our own lives if our hearts have become fallow, and if there's nothing going on there like it ought to be.

[8:57] And Lord, I pray that you'll deal individually with certain people. Lord, if there's the need, may your spirit have access to us, and God, may we not close our hearts at this moment and say, not me, but Lord, help us to soften and let your spirit move in our midst.

[9:13] And Lord, take control of this next half hour, and may you accomplish something in our lives. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. First thing I want us to consider here and understand, fallow ground is idle ground.

[9:28] It's idle ground. There's nothing happening. It's just barren and dead. And day after day, and even season after season, and perhaps year after year, it just sits.

[9:42] Nothing going on. It's neglected. It's ground that's neglected. And as time passes over this fallow ground, and time just slips away, and slips away where you can't get it back, nothing is happening.

[9:58] And if that's your heart and years of your life, it can just go by like that, like that, like that, where there's just nothing coming out of it toward God. It's easy to get fired up for the Lord and start serving and giving Him all your energy, and just fall in love with who He is and what He's done for you, and then burn out, and then just sit fallow.

[10:19] And it's easy to let time pass over, and years and seasons go by where there's nothing going on. It can be idle. Fallow ground is idle ground. It's not that it doesn't lack opportunity.

[10:31] It doesn't lack the ability. It lacks the attention, and it lacks the effort. And so, even though allowing ground to sit fallow, as I mentioned, it can have its benefits.

[10:47] And the way I see that, by way of picturing the Christian life, a young believer or a child may sit in a sense fallow, in the sense of just gaining nutrients and nourishment in hopes of future plantings and future fruit to the Lord Jesus Christ, a successful harvest.

[11:08] But while that can be a true thought of sitting fallow can have its benefits, be careful. Christian, be careful, because just because land sits fallow, it doesn't mean that things aren't getting in.

[11:23] Just because your heart's sitting fallow doesn't mean that things aren't happening and you don't even realize it. In the idleness and in the stillness, many unwanted and harmful dangers can find their way in.

[11:40] Weeds will show up quickly when land is fallow, and weeds will take root and spread. Oh, how fast they spread. I didn't plant any weeds on this property, but boy, do they keep coming back.

[11:55] Spray them, and they keep coming back. Pull them out by the roots, and they're back again. And fallow ground, land that sits idle, can bring some things in but you don't realize it.

[12:07] There's also pests that find their way into fallow ground, and they're wild beasts. And those wild beasts bore holes into the ground, and they find a way to make a home in there.

[12:19] And it's unseen at times, but down underneath, there's pests and wild beasts that are just rapidly multiplying and creating destructive habits and nature of that ground.

[12:33] Its presence of these beasts are destructive, and they threaten the future fruit of this land. I have to ask first, is there fallow ground in your life?

[12:46] Have you become idle in areas of your life and reading your Bible? Have you become idle in reading your Bible? Have you just gotten away from it somehow?

[12:58] And you know when you get away from it, it's easy to let another week go by and another month go by. It's so easy because in your mind, oh, I have to be faithful to it every day.

[13:09] And I've struggled being faithful with it every week. And it's so easy to just quit and walk away. And when you do, the land becomes fallow.

[13:21] And when you let other things replace the time, you know, we all have the same amount of time in a day. And we choose what we fill it with. You can say, well, I have to do this and I have to do that and other people don't have it that bad.

[13:33] You choose what to do with your day. And you choose how much time you spend in certain areas. You make the choice. And if it comes to neglecting your Bible and letting that sit fallow and your heart be fallowed toward the words of God and your fellowship with Him, you've filled it with something else.

[13:50] Don't tell me that God has not allowed you time in your day to fellowship with Him. That's not true. There's some deceit that has crept in there. But if you've gotten away from reading your Bible, I want to encourage you today to break up that fallow ground.

[14:03] It's probably something got in there and replaced it. It's probably a TV show, a phone, talking with others. There's time that you have in your day that you could spend there. Maybe it's sleep.

[14:14] Whatever it is, you've replaced it. Something's gotten in and now you're going to have to get them out. Now you're going to have to do some work. You can't neglect that ground. Maybe it's ministering for the Lord Jesus Christ where you've done it and now you've taken a break.

[14:28] Now you've backed away from it and what you don't realize is you've got fallow ground. It's become idle. It's land and room in your heart where it should be given to Christ and to serving Christ and to giving your ability and your treasures, your talents and you're just yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ and you take a break and before you know it, time is passing over it and it's idle.

[14:52] And in those years of your life, there's no fruit coming forth to the Lord Jesus Christ. God wants to see fruit and fallow grounds not bringing forth anything like that.

[15:04] Maybe it could be in your relationships with others. It's a shame and it's strange how in people's families a division can take place and they don't talk for 10 years.

[15:16] I don't even understand that. I don't understand it at all. And I don't know what it is. Maybe I just don't have, I don't want to say, I got pride. I'm a sinner. But maybe I don't have as much as some people have to where they just, they won't talk to them.

[15:31] They won't do it. Never. They've done, you know, it's always their fault. Maybe it's your relationship with others that there's become a fallow ground there where it could be fruitful.

[15:42] Instead, it's idle. And somebody needs to humble themselves. And I wonder if there's become a fallow ground in your life and maybe fallow and idle in the things or the thing that brought you into the joy of Christ.

[15:58] And things in your life, as you look back in your Christian life, certain things just sparked you to loving Him, to serving Him, to going all out, to not caring about anything else. and then just started to go idle.

[16:10] I wonder, the longer, the longer it's neglected, the longer it sits idle, the more overtaken it can become with these unwanted nuisances, these hazards even.

[16:24] And the more work it'll take then to get them out and to get the land back to being usable. They always say that an idle mind is the devil's workshop. You've heard that, I'm sure.

[16:34] an idle ground is ripe for weeds and it's ripe for thorns to appear. It's ripe for unwanted beasts to find a home in.

[16:47] And so idle ground or an idle heart needs to be kept. And I'll show you what I mean by that. Come back to Genesis chapter 2. And when it comes to taking care of ground or a garden, God uses the word keep.

[17:15] Genesis chapter 2. The fallow ground, even if it's sitting fallow, it needs a caretaker. Because just the reason sitting fallow doesn't mean things aren't getting in that don't belong in.

[17:31] Genesis chapter 2, verse 15. The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. To keep it. The groundskeeper.

[17:42] Look at chapter 3. All the way to the end of chapter 3. And we'll see the word show up again in your King James Bible. Verse 23 says, Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden.

[17:55] This is after they sinned. They had to get out because that tree of life is sitting there. And he's worried in verse 22. If they take of the tree of life and eat and live forever, it's not going to be good. So he sends him out.

[18:06] And in verse 24, So he drove out the man and he placed in the east of the Garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life. Now come to Proverbs chapter 4.

[18:19] Proverbs chapter 4. Well, keeping is not just pruning and making something pretty. It's protecting. It's guarding.

[18:35] Proverbs chapter 4. And now the real application of this thought about your heart. Proverbs chapter 4. Notice in verse 23.

[18:46] Proverbs 4. This is the word God uses about your heart. Proverbs 4. 23. Keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.

[19:03] It's your heart that needs to be kept and guarded and protected from things getting in. And how quick it is that things can get in.

[19:13] You need a sharp sword like was back there in the Garden of Eden. A sharp sword. The sword of the spirit to help keep and protect your heart from those wild beasts that want to get in and make a home and multiply and eventually take over and make that ground that it can never be used again for farming or for fruit for God.

[19:37] Parents, along these lines, be careful what you allow in your home. Be careful of the things that can be innocent. Netflix and Hulu and Amazon Prime Video and there's so many of these apps and options that you can, my kids like watching Barney Fife.

[19:59] They think he's hilarious and he is. Believe it or not, we're kind of weird like that. But while that's there, I'm not so stupid and also know that one click away is a world of filth.

[20:14] And just because there can be innocence to it, you better keep your home and be careful to keep your kids' hearts because it can be, those little things like that, they can be so innocent and pure in a sense, just with one click they can open the door for the filth to burrow itself into the hearts of your children and it gets in and it takes root, it can get into your own heart and you're told to keep your heart.

[20:41] Keep your heart and keep those things away that can destroy. So fallow ground is idle ground but it doesn't mean that things aren't getting in, it doesn't mean that things aren't taking root.

[20:52] And so Bible says, Paul said to Timothy, take heed to thyself. Better pay attention, keep thy heart with all diligence. Secondly, I want to say that fallow ground is fruitless ground.

[21:04] Come back to Proverbs again in chapter 24. Proverbs 24, fallow ground is idle ground and fallow ground is fruitless ground.

[21:20] Proverbs 24, there's something that caught Solomon's eye when he went out for a walk and he's walking through his kingdom and something stops him dead in his tracks.

[21:33] in verse 30, he says, I went by the field of the slothful and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding and lo, it was all grown over with thorns and nettles had covered the face thereof and the stone wall thereof was broken down.

[21:54] Then I saw and considered it well. I looked upon it and received instruction. and he goes on to talk about this man and his problem. This man that's ignorant or void of understanding.

[22:08] This fool, simple man that's slothful. But you know what's missing? What he sees is the stone wall broken down. He sees the thorns. He sees the nettles.

[22:18] But you know what he should be looking at? That is fruit. And that's what caught his eye. That's what made him say, wait a minute. This is a vineyard. There's no fruit.

[22:31] There's something missing. This is fallow ground. It's fruitless ground. It might be that things are growing there but the things growing are what grew in Isaiah's story in chapter 5 was wild grapes.

[22:48] What could be growing here is thorns and nettles, weeds. But it's not what this ground is intended for, is it? This ground's not intended for that trash.

[23:00] This ground's intended for something to bring forth what the Bible calls the fruits of righteousness in Philippians chapter 1. This ground was actually set apart.

[23:12] It was set apart to yield fruit. It's not wilderness anymore like it once was. This ground has been cultivated. This ground has had some time put into it. There's been work done.

[23:22] There's been rocks that have pulled and been hauled away and taken out. This land used to be the home of wild beasts but no longer. It's been cleared out. Much effort's been made to prepare this ground for use but as long as it lies fallow it's fruitless.

[23:41] It's fruitless. And Christian, your heart, if you're born of the spirit, God has done a work in you and he's come in and it's not wilderness anymore.

[23:52] It's not a home for the wild beasts anymore. And there's no room for thorns inside of there either. God came in and he separated and done to himself a new creature.

[24:03] He created in Christ Jesus. There's no reason for it just to be sitting fallow, idle, and fruitless. God is interested in fruit. In John chapter 15 Christ says, I'm the vine, you're the branches and he says that he wants to see fruit.

[24:19] No, he doesn't want to just see fruit, he wants to see more fruit because he purges it but no, he's not done there. He says, I want to see much fruit. Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit.

[24:30] God knows what he can get out of you. He knows what you're capable of and he's not happy to see fruitless ground. And although being idle and fallow is not always a bad thing in Hosea chapter 10 and verse 12 he says, it is time to seek the Lord.

[24:50] He doesn't want to see him fallow anymore. It's time to break it up. It's time to see the land realize its potential. It's time for God to get something out of your life. A fruit, in John 15 he calls it fruit that remains.

[25:06] God paid for that land. God's done work for that land. He ought to get something out of it for all that he's done for it. Fallow ground is fruitless ground but God's interested in growth.

[25:20] God says, that ground cannot stay fallow. It's time to break it up. And so thirdly, let's consider something else about fallow ground is fallow ground is hardened ground.

[25:33] It's hardened ground. It needs to be broken up. Something has to be done in order for this ground to do anything. The longer it sits idle, the harder it becomes.

[25:45] And the ground itself, it has such potential but not when it's hard. Not when it's hard. God's done work and what perhaps we could be looking at in our mind brought forth fruit at one time.

[25:59] Maybe even abundantly. Looking at it now, it seems like it's just waste and useless. And it doesn't take long for ground to dry out.

[26:09] It doesn't take long for it to become hardened. And in this passage, we read, God says, break up your fallow ground for it is time to seek the Lord till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

[26:20] He doesn't say, water the fallow ground. That's something he'll do after. He says, break it up first. You water and water fallow or hardened ground, it's not going to do much.

[26:32] The water just runs right off. It needs to be broken up so it can receive that water. It needs to be broken up. Fallow ground is hardened ground. It must be prepared.

[26:46] Whether you realize it or not, the longer you sit fallow, the harder your heart grows. And it's the thing about a deceitful heart is you don't realize that you're getting harder.

[26:59] You don't think you're harder. You don't think you've changed. But you don't realize that the longer you sit fallow, the harder your heart grows. And I wonder if you consider, has my heart grown hard?

[27:13] Let me ask you, are you receiving the word of God? Are you just enduring this time, this 30 minutes and then I can get back to talking and fellowshipping and having a cup of coffee or get on with my week?

[27:27] Are you receiving the word of God? I don't consider myself some incredible speaker or preacher by any means, but I know that I put forth a Bible from this pulpit every Sunday and every Wednesday.

[27:40] And I know that you get Bible, Bible, Bible from this pulpit. And I wonder if you're receiving it. I wonder if it's ever having any effect inside of you or if it's just rolling right off like water on hard ground, just rolling right away and never soaking in and never getting anything.

[28:01] I wonder if you're sitting fallow and growing harder and it's not even noticed. When's the last time that you were moved, seated in a church service, that you were moved from the scriptures and from the preaching of the Bible?

[28:15] When's the last time you were moved in singing of the hymns? Those words didn't change. Those words have done so much for so many people. Are they still working in your heart? When's the last time that you rejoiced in Christ as you read the words of God?

[28:31] That you got caught from the scriptures and just somewhere, some line, some thought showed you yourself and you rejoiced in Jesus Christ and the work he's done in your life or what he's done for you?

[28:48] I'm not saying you got to be moved to tears every time you walk through the doors or every time you sit down with a cup of coffee in your Bible, but I wonder when's the last time it's happened?

[28:58] Has it happened recently? If it hasn't, if it's not, you're not soft. You're getting harder. You may not even know it.

[29:11] When's the last time that you, from your heart, that you had conviction or concern about someone's salvation? About the people you see every day at your job, around you, and you looked at them as a lost soul.

[29:25] When's the last time you saw them? You know why? You're getting hardened. You're getting hardened to seeing them as a lost soul. You're just seeing them as a person, as a funny guy, as somebody you can talk to or somebody that's a good worker.

[29:36] And you've lost that burden for the soul. What you don't know is your heart's getting harder toward witnessing. Maybe once you had a burden, but maybe it's been quite a while since you've even thought about it.

[29:52] Maybe once you've had a conviction that you've held close to you, but now you rarely even crosses your mind. You just go right into something that perhaps in the past you thought twice about.

[30:03] I don't know if I should do this. I don't know if this is right, but a hardened heart doesn't think twice. Maybe once you've prayed and asked God to change you and asked God to grow you and asked God to use you for His glory, but now your prayer life is just shallow and really just inconsistent.

[30:22] What do you think's happened? I'll tell you, you've been sitting fallow for too long, idle and fruitless and hard, and you don't even realize it.

[30:35] You don't even notice it as seasons pass over that land, that heart, it just gets harder. It naturally gets harder. So you've got to plow.

[30:46] You can't go out here and plant and feel like, oh, it's going to happen. No, you've got to plow first. The ground must be broken up. To conclude, that's the thought, that's the message.

[30:58] Break up your fallow ground. The last thought I'll leave you with is that this fallow ground must be broken up because it is time to seek the Lord.

[31:10] It is time to seek the Lord. If you've been idle, if you feel yourself, just you can feel yourself growing harder, you know you're not as soft, you know you're not as sensitive, you've thrown up excuses, why this, why that, this is why I don't do that, you don't even, you're getting harder, you're getting colder, and there's no fruit in your Christian life, then it's time.

[31:34] It's time to break up your fallow ground. It's time to seek the Lord. I wonder if you're tired of feeling like you're just being drawn away from the Lord. You know in your heart you're sliding back.

[31:46] You know in your heart that you're even maybe watching it take place and you don't like it but it's just, what are you going to do? And you just let another day go by, another week go by.

[31:57] It's time to break up that fallow ground. It's time to say I'm not going to live the rest of my life like this. I'm not going to get so far away that I can't get back.

[32:08] God's showing you that your ground is getting hard. That your heart is not doing what it used to do. That it's not producing fruit. That it's idle. It's time. It's time to seek the Lord.

[32:21] It's time to seek the Lord because He can, He can specialize in this area of softening hearts. He can restore joy into your life. He can restore zeal into your Christian life.

[32:32] He knows how to do it. He knows how to do the work. He'd love to come and rain righteousness upon you. But before He'll ever come, you're going to have to break it up.

[32:43] You're going to have to, it's not that hard. It's just a bowed knee and a contrite heart, a humble spirit and He'll show up.

[32:55] It's just saying, Lord, I'm not going to let this go on. He didn't save you just to enjoy your life and have a good time and fellowship, fellowship, fellowship. He saved you to bear fruit that's acceptable to Him.

[33:10] I quoted it already in Philippians 1. Paul says, being filled with the fruits of righteousness. I wonder if there's fallow ground in your heart. If it's, if there's things that's just, they've definitely become idle, you're almost becoming numb because you're getting harder and there's no fruit.

[33:32] If you let it go, it's just going to get harder. If you ignore it, it's not going to just fix itself. You don't wait for the church to have revival. You humble yourself today and seek the Lord on your own.

[33:46] God's message through these two prophets to His people was break up your fallow ground. They rejected that, they ignored it, and the judgment came.

[34:00] He yanked them out of that land. He said, the land will enjoy her Sabbaths and then I'll let you back in. I hope you hear the message.

[34:11] I hope you, that the Lord has the freedom to speak to your heart, to show you something, to teach you, to talk to you in your own walk. Say, yeah, this thing right here, we need to talk about it.

[34:25] We need to deal with this thing right here. God has a way of doing that in your heart so much better than I do and I pray that He does it. I pray though that you're open to the Word of God that you say, I need to do some business with God.

[34:39] If that's you today, today's a great chance. This morning, it's time to seek the Lord. Let's bow our heads together and with your heads bowed, I wonder if you'd be honest and say, I personally know that I'm growing cold, that I'm growing hard, that things aren't what they used to be, not with this church, but with me, me, my heart.

[35:11] You can look around, you can blame other things, you can come up with excuses. That's your deceitful heart trying to preserve itself, trying to stay away from doing business with God.

[35:22] But would you admit this morning, you don't have to raise your hand, would you admit in your heart before God that you're talking about me today, you're dealing with my heart.

[35:34] I wonder if you'll have the courage to do something about it this morning. If God's speaking to you, your job is to respond.

[35:50] Your job is to bow a knee. And your job is to seek the Lord. Maybe it's as simple as what I talked about in your Bible reading.

[36:03] Maybe it's as simple as that. Maybe it is your prayer life. Maybe you have let some things get in that have no business in your heart.

[36:15] And as they've gotten in, they're going to spread. They're going to do damage. Maybe it's your home. Maybe for some, it's your witness.

[36:28] Where have you grown hard? Where have you become fallow? Idle. Fruitless. I wonder if you'll commit today to the one who died for you and paid for your sin and has your best interest in heart in this life.

[36:49] I wonder if you'll humble yourself and commit to Him and say, Lord, I'm going to break it up. I want to seek You. I want there to be fruit. Fruit that remains.

[37:01] I don't want to stand in the judgment seat of Christ and watch the whole thing burn up. I don't want that to happen. You don't want that to happen, do you?

[37:13] Watch the whole thing burn because you wouldn't get yourself right. I invite you to come and pray. I invite you to do some business with the Lord.

[37:26] This is the time to do it. Don't be ashamed. Some have already come. There's room for you. And if God's speaking to you, don't you resist Him.

[37:37] Don't you let your hard heart win out. You let God win today. You let God's Spirit win today. Father, please move in this church this morning.

[37:54] Lord, I know You care more than I'll ever care. You care about the hearts of these people. And You know where they're at. And so, Lord, I trust that You're moving and that You're dealing with hearts.

[38:06] God, give each one courage. I pray they'd bow the knee before You. I pray they'll resist fighting and just turn it over to You.

[38:22] Lord, I don't know what message this was or who it's for or how the application needs to be met in each life. I just know that this was what You gave me to say. So, God, I pray.

[38:34] I pray that Your people will respond. Thank You for caring about us enough to come after us. And Lord, help us to respond to break up that ground to seek the Lord.

[38:48] Let's stand together with our heads bowed and we're going to sing 388 in the hymnal 388. There's still time to do business with God this morning. There's still time for you to come and pray.

[39:00] There's nothing more important than you doing right, responding to God. Don't walk out of those doors without having things clear when you can have it clear.

[39:16] Let's sing together 388. let's sing together 388 in the high school.

[39:27] Why? We gotta be like, if you wanna connect to God you wanna be.. we gotta be one up in this village with SRC where we attach it plenty.. And you can just come together to give youエピ and give them all the 페 Rober over to your coordinate to be the Francion- maybe sent better.

[39:38]  We'll never交 the way to be the needle a song set up where they put on the foot that is the foot that is so strong.